Yahoo Board and U.S. Durable Goods—5 Things to Know for the Day Ahead

Wall Street stock futures are lower again Thursday as the dollar continues to rise against a background of talk of interest rate hikes in the not-too-distant future. Crude oil futures have slumped back below $40 a barrel after data showing a sharp rise in U.S. stockpiles (and the realization that the much-touted “restraint” of other big producers is taking place at record high output levels).

Today’s must-read story is from Fortune‘s Shawn Tully, who dug into GOP frontrunner Donald Trump’s financial records and found that the former reality television star’s total debt is nearly $1 billion—or, roughly double what Trump has claimed.

Here’s what else you need to know to start the day.

1. Starboard wants to remove Yahoo’s board

Hedge fund Starboard Value LP has launched a campaign to remove the entire board of underperforming web giant Yahoo Inc., according toThe Wall Street Journal. The activist investor plans to announce Thursday morning that it will nominate nine directors to Yahoo’s board, making good on a threat made this year that it would seek to shake up the board if it felt the directors weren’t making changes fast enough.

2. Accenture Q2 earnings

The Dublin-based consulting services company is expected to post second-quarter earnings above Wall Street’s expectations. Accenture ACN has seen solid demand in North America as the company looks to expand its digital business offerings, including analytics and cloud services.

3. Durable goods

The Commerce Department is expected to report that orders for durable goods fell by 2.8% last month. Following a strong January rebound for durable goods orders, a February decline would represent a bump in the road to recovery for the manufacturing sector.

4. Weekly jobless claims

The Labor Department will likely report that the number of Americans who filed new applications for unemployment benefits last week increased from the previous week. Weekly jobless claims jumped by 3,000 claims, but the total number of weekly claims (268,000) still remained well below the threshold for a strengthening job market.

5. More earnings

Fourth-quarter sales for the world’s largest video game retailer, GameStop GME, will likely fall short of expectations after the company cut its earnings and same-store sales forecast for the month. Other companies reporting quarterly earnings today include fast-casual restaurant chain Cosi COSI and motor home manufacturer Winnebago Industries WGO.

Dow turns negative for the year as stocks plunge

The Dow Jones Industrial Average turned negative for the year on Wednesday after a market wide sell-off sent U.S. stocks plummeting amid weak economic data and continued concerns over the strong U.S. dollar.

The Dow Jones dropped more than 290 points, or 1.6%, to 17,718 points Wednesday afternoon as the U.S. market saw its third straight day of losses. The blue chip index is now more than 100 points in the red for the year after a few turbulent months to start 2015. After a strong February, the Dow is down nearly 2.3% in March.

Meanwhile, the Nasdaq composite fell 118 points, or 2.4%, to 4,876 points. The tech-heavy index has slipped by roughly 150 points since closing last Friday within almost 20 points of its all-time record close (not counting inflation adjustment), which it set just before the dot-com bubble burst in 2000.

The S&P 500 fell 30 points, or 1.5%, to finish Wednesday at 2,061. The benchmark index is down 2.3% so far this week.

The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that durable goods orders fell for a sixth straight month in February thanks, in part, to a strong dollar and a drop-off in global demand. Investors also appeared to be girding themselves for what could be a disappointing earnings season for the current quarter after many companies already blamed the strong dollar for poor performances after the most recent quarter.

Wednesday’s losses came after the news that HJ Heinz will merge with Kraft Foods Group KRFT, in a deal brokered by Berkshire Hathaway and private equity firm 3G, to form a massive new food company. Kraft’s stock jumped more than 35% during Wednesday trading.

The rest of the U.S. market suffered on Wednesday, though, including share declines for major tech outfits such as Microsoft MSFT, IBM IBM and Intel INTC. Several companies in the semiconductor industry also saw their shares decline, including Avago Technologies AVGO, Applied Materials AMAT and NVIDIA Corp. NVDA.

Spending by U.S. businesses fell for a sixth straight month in February

U.S. business investment spending plans fell for a sixth straight month in February, likely weighed down by a strong dollar and weak global demand, which could see economists further lower their first-quarter growth estimates.

The Commerce Department said on Wednesday non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending plans, dropped 1.4% last month after a revised 0.1% dip in January.

The so-called core capital goods orders last rose in August.

Business spending on capital goods has been hurt by a strong dollar which has cut into overseas profits of multinational companies. Lower crude prices also have acted as a drag, forcing oil firms to either delay or cut back on investment projects.

Shipments of core capital goods, which are used to calculate equipment spending in the government’s gross domestic product measurement, rose 0.2% last month after slipping by a revised 0.4% in January.

Shipments in January were previously reported to have gained 0.1%. That downward revision could see economists trim their first-quarter GDP growth estimates, which currently range between a 1.2% and 2% annual pace.

With core capital goods orders falling, overall orders for durable goods — items ranging from toasters to aircraft that are meant to last three years or more — fell 1.4% last month.

Durable goods orders were also hampered by a 3.5% plunge in orders for transportation equipment. Durable goods orders increased 2% in January.

U.S. stocks fell dramatically immediately following the opening bell Tuesday morning after a series of big U.S. companies issued dour earnings reports, and a drop in durable goods orders shook investors’ confidence in the economic outlook for 2015.

The Dow Jones industrial average plummeted at the open, and was down 291 points at the close having tumbled 390 points earlier in the session. One week after a market surge nearly wiped out all of market’s losses for the year, the blue-chip index is now some 400 points below where it started 2015.

The Nasdaq composite was down 2% at the close, while the S&P 500 was off just over 1%. All three major U.S. indices were basically flat on Monday.

Orders for durable goods — including anything from home appliances to commercial aircraft — in the U.S. dropped 3.4% in December after the fell more than 2% the previous month, according to new data from the Commerce Department.

Meanwhile, a diverse set of companies that includes Microsoft MSFT, Procter & Gamble PG and Caterpillar CAT saw their share prices drop Tuesday morning as a result of weak quarterly earnings reports.

Tuesday’s U.S. sell-off came on the heels of a decline for European stocks, which had improved recently on the European Central Bank’s new stimulus measures before falling again Tuesday due to concerns over political upheaval in Greece. London’s FTSE 100 dropped 0.6% during the day while Germany’s DAX fell 1.6%.

Orders for durable goods fell sharply in December

The U.S. government reported a surprise drop in new orders for manufactured goods in December, hurt by sharp declines for aircrafts and related parts and transportation equipment.

New orders in December tumbled 3.4% to $230.5 billion from the prior month, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. It was the fourth month out of five that the metric has declined and the worst drop since August. Economists had projected a 0.7% increase, and even the most cautious estimates only predicated a 1.3% drop.

Transportation equipment, also down for four of the past five months, led the decline in December. That segment alone accounted for a $6.8 billion shortfall in orders (overall the decline was $8.1 billion). The data provided by the Commerce Department measure industrial activity and are an indication of future business trends.

New orders declined for most segments, although the motor vehicles and parts segment was again a notable bright spot, with those orders climbing 2.7% sequentially in December.

The Commerce Department also revised the November data, with new orders, shipments and most other data lower than initially reported.

Consumer confidence hits 7-year high

An improving job market helped lift consumer confidence to its highest level in seven years, something that will be music to the retail sector’s ears as the country prepares for the holiday season.

The Conference Board said its Consumer Confidence Index rose to 94.5 in October from 89 in September, reaching the highest level since October 2007. That was far better than the declined to 86.8 that was projected by observers polled by Bloomberg News.

“Consumer confidence, which had declined in September, rebounded in October,” said Conference Board director Lynn Franco.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded higher after the report, suggesting that investors were more focused on it than on poor durable goods data that was also issued on Tuesday. New orders for manufactured durable goods slid 1.3% in September, the Commerce Department reported, while observers had projected a 0.9% increase. Orders for machinery, computers and electronic products, and transportation equipment all declined.

The U.S. economy has performed well since a harsh winter temporarily dented a steady period of growth. The labor market has consistently added jobs and the housing and auto markets are performing fairly well. Meanwhile, lower gas prices at the pump could also inspire further spending from consumers. A closely watched report on the U.S.’s third-quarter gross domestic product growth will be issued on Thursday. Economists project GDP will increase 3% for the July-September period.

Durable goods orders were better than expected in June

New orders for manufactured durable goods, such as refrigerators, aircraft and heavy machinery, climbed 0.7% in June, rebounding from a slight decline in May and climbing for the fourth time in the last five months.

The new orders increased by $1.8 billion to $239.9 billion, the Commerce Department reported on Friday. Observers had expected a 0.5% increase, according to a Bloomberg poll. Meanwhile, new orders grew 0.8% excluding transportation — a gain that was also better than expected.

The Commerce Department said machinery led the growth in June, with new orders for that segment rising 2.4%. That followed two consecutive monthly declines.

Shipments of manufactured goods increased a modest 0.1% in June, an increase that was driven by transportation equipment. Unfilled orders, meanwhile, increased 0.8%. They’ve risen in 14 of the last 15 months.

The better-than-expected durable goods data comes before a busy week of economic indicators, including July’s employment report, gross domestic product data for the second quarter and pending home sales. The Federal Open Market Committee is also hosting a meeting next week.

While the U.S. economy shrank a surprisingly sharp 2.9% in the first quarter of 2014, the worst quarterly performance since the first quarter of 2009, the economy is expected to improve drastically in the second quarter helped by better weather conditions, some pent-up demand after a harsh winter, and job growth.

Surprise gain in durable goods orders bodes well for economy

FORTUNE — Orders for long-wearing U.S. manufactured products unexpectedly increased in April, giving analysts hope for an extended second quarter recovery after a harsh winter dampened growth in the beginning of the year.

Durable good production, which includes items that are meant to last three years or more, like TVS, washing machines and airplanes, rose 0.8%, the Commerce Department said. That was better than the expected 0.7% decrease, according to an average of 68 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The report is seen as proxy for investment by U.S. businesses.

April’s gain helps sustain the momentum from March, when durable good orders rose 3.6%, the strongest month since November. The harsh winter was forecast to significantly slow U.S. factory demand, and the unexpected jump in March raised hopes of an extended recovery in the second quarter.

Expectations are buoyed by a positive economic growth outlook: U.S. gross domestic product is projected to grow at an annualized rate of 3.5% this quarter, according to the median estimate compiled by Bloomberg.

Removing the more volatile transportation category, durable good orders were up 0.1% in April, better than the flat expectations, according to the Bloomberg analyst average. Transportation equipment led the increase with a particularly strong gain of 2.3%, the seventh monthly gain out of the past eight.

However, airplane makers like Boeing, whose April orders dropped to 70 planes from 163 in the prior month, dragged down the transportation gains. Bookings for commercial aircraft dropped by 4.1% overall.